Snowplow



E. CLAYB ORNE.

SNOWPL'OW.

1,422,417 APPLICATION FILED mzc.4, I920, Patented July my 1922 3 SHEETSSHEET I.

E CLAYBORNt.

SNOWPLOW. APPLICATION FILED DEC.4, 20-

Patented July 11, 1922.

3 SHEE] $.SHEET 2.

I ua-1 E. CLAYBORNE.

SNOWPLOW.

APPLICATION FILED no.4, 1920.

1,422,41 '7 Patented Jul 11, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

warren stares PATENT ELI CLAYBORNE, OE HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.

sNowrLow.

Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patented Jul 11 1922 Application filed December 4, 1920. Serial No. 428,232.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELI CLAYBORNE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Hot cleared after heavy snowfalls and the operation of the railroad permitted to continue without interruption. The invention seeks to provide a snow plow of sufficient strength to penetrate deep snow falls and turn aside the body of the snow the plow is driven into the drifts or banks of snow by a locomotive coupled to the rear of the plow. The invention also seeks to provide a plow which will be heated so as to readily penetrate and soften the snow immediately adjacent the plow and also to provide a plowof such construction that the high heavy banks will be turned partly aside and the snow will be caused to pack somewhat at "the sides of the track and by its packing resist the usual tendency of the piled up snow to settle back upon the track. Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the loose snow immediately adjacent the track will be prevented from falling back onto the same and the tread surface of the, track rails willbe relieved of all loose particles of snow or any thin deposit of snow which might otherwise accumulate I thereon.

In the annexed drawings Figure l'is aside elevation of a snow plow embodying my improvements;

r Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof;

Fig. 3' is a plan view, partly brokenaway,

of the front end of the plow; Fig. at is a transverse vertical section. In carrying out the present invention, 1

employ one or more trucks 1 which may be of any preferredform butare preferably of such dimensions that thevfloor or platform 2 carried thereby will be low or comparatively partition.

posts but, whatever construction may be employed, the sides of the car and the roof W1 bev covered with metal sheathing 5. Moreover, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4:, the sheathing upon the sides of the car will be extended below the floor 2 so that it will terminate below the axles of the trucks 1, although it will obviously not extend to such point that it will tend to come into contact with the ties or roadbed. By extending the sheathing downwardly, as illustrated, any loose show which might tend to slide from the piles or banks at the sides of the track and be again deposited upon the track will be turned aside and the track will thus be kept clear after the snow has been removed therefrom. It will be readily understood that my plow is intended more particularly for use in those mountainous sections where the snowfall is very heavy and drifts of considerable depth are frequently formed upon the track, sometimes reaching a height above that of the trains for which the road is established and which require the services of a large force of men and extremely heavy lows ordinarily, to effect removal. It wil therefore, be understood that the car which is built in accordance with my invention is to be driven over the road and for that purpose is coupled to the front of a locomotive, and in Fig. 1 I have illustrated a coupling 6 designed to facilitate the connection of the rear endof the plow or car with the front end of a locomotive, indicated at 7. It will also be understood that the car will be provided only with such doors or windows as are necessary to permit access to its interior and that such doors or windows as may be provided will be also reinforced .with a sheathing of metal. In Fig. 1, I have indicated a sliding door 8 mounted in cleats 9 upon the side of the car and adapted to abut a vertical cleat 10 at its front end in closed position so that the loose snow cannot drift into the interior of the car. A step 11 of any preferred form may be provided upon the side of the car to facilitate the opening of the door and obtain access to the interior of the car.

Extending between the side walls of the car, at the front end thereof, is a partition 12 which closes the front end of the car, except for a door or man hole 13 formed in the Secured, to and extending forwardly from the partition are the horizontal plates 14 which serve to support the plow proper consisting of forwardly converging sides 15 and a roof 16 extending over the sides and supported by the upper edges thereof and by the partition 12. The roof 16 arches transversely, as will be readily.

' also to serve other purposes which will presently appear. The side walls 15 are preferably constructed of two walls of metal which may be placed in close contact, as shown in Fig. 3, or may be spaced apart and reinforced as may be preferred and the horizontal partitions 14 are preferably of such dimensions that their forwardly converging edges will be spaced somewhat from the walls 15, as shown at 19, and are connected with said walls by brackets 20. The brackets 20 will tend to resist collapse of the side walls, while the spaces 19 will provide for a circulation of heat past the edges of the horizontal partitions and thereby aid in maintaining the desired temperature in the side walls of the plow. As shown at 21, the said side walls 15' of the plow are dished so that their upper rear corners project outwardly beyond the planes of the greater portions of the walls and thereby constitute overhanging projections which will turn aside the upper portions of the snow banks and exert a packing action thereon so that the tendency of the snow at the sides of the track to slide back onto the same will be overcome. x

Myinvention contemplates the application of heat to the snow as the plow comes into contact therewith and to this end I provide. a-furnace 22 for burning solid fuel which furnace will be located immediately adjacent the transverse partition or front wall 12 of the car and while the furnace may be of any desired c'onstructionit must be so 1 modified'as to provide a heat outlet 23 extending forwardly into the interior of the snow plow proper. This heat outlet 23v should. be located below the lower horizontal partition 14 so that the hot air and all the products of combustion will be delivered into the snow plow at the bottom of the same and will be turned aside by the said horizontal partition so that they will. be caused to playupon the side walls 15 and heat the same in an obvious manner. The heated currents cannot escape except by flowing past the side edges of both horizontal partitions 14 and, consequently, they will be caused to flow upon the entire inner surface of the side walls of the plow and will raise the temperature of the same so that when the plow penetrates a snow drift or bank the heat of theplow will soften the snow to render penetration and deflection of the snow easy. The gases and other products of combustion will eventually be permitted to escape through a smoke pipe 2 1 rising from the roof 16 of the plow and turned backwardly,

as clearly shownin Figs. 1 and 2, so that falling-snow will not be permitted to enter the smoke stack andzchoke the same. Coal or otherfuel for the furnace 22 may be stored at the rear end of the car and to facilitate the loading of the fuel, a door 25 is provided in the roof 4.

I also provide. means whereby the plow may be heated by liquid or gaseous fuel when the same is available or is preferred. To this end, a tank or reservoir 26 of any convenient form is placed within the car and a supply pipe 27 is carried forward'from the lower end of the reservoir, as shown in Fig. 2, .said pipe being provided with a cut-off valve 28 so that the flow of the fuel may be controlled. Within the plow, burner pipes 29 are provided at the lower portions of the sidewalls of the plow and directly against the same and these burnercoils are directly connected with the supply pipe 27 When i the liquid fuel is to be used, access may be had to the burners through the door or manhole 13 so that the burners may he readily lighted and the flame therefrom will obviously play directly upon the sides of the plow so as to heat the same. i i

In order to facilitate the removal of ashes or soot, an opening 30 is provided in the floor 18 of the plow and thisopening is normally covered by a plate or doorSl as. will be readily understood.

There will be a constant tendency of loose particles of snow to drift back onto the treads of the track rails and there: is also a tendency of a thin layer of ice toform on the tracks which tends. toimpede :the progress of the plow or of a train, inasmuch. as the car wheels cannot under such conditions obtain a firm grip upon the rails. To avoid such conditions, I provide scrapers 32 on the under side of the floor 18 ofthe plow and these scrapers may conveniently be strips of metal doubledupon themselves or formed into corrugations and secured at one end, the rear ends of the strips, being free so that the scrapers may readily conform to the swayingof the plow while it is at work without being disengaged from the tread of the rail.

A thermometer '34; is provided upon the front wall or partition12 of the car so that the temperature within the car and the plow may be noted before the work of clearing the track is commenced. Obviously, it is desirable to raise the temperature of the plow before it is driven into the snow as it is easier to overcome the slight cooling of the plow caused by its contact with the snow than it is to initially raise the plow to a high temperature after it has been pushed against the snow.

To facilitate the hauling of the plow about the railroad yard or to meet other conditions under which it may be needful to pull the plow instead of pushing it, I provide brackets upon the plow near the front end thereof to receive a coupling.

A headlight 36 is provided at any convenient point upon the front end of the car and lamps of any preferred form may be placed wherever desired within the car.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a very substantial and durable plow which may be efliciently employed to clear railway tracks in sections where snowfall'is heavy and apt to form large banks or drifts.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination of a car, a hollow plow carried by the car and covering the entire front end of the same, a vertical particar having an outlet extending through the vertical partition and into the plow below the bottom horizontal partition.

2. The combination of a car, a hollow plow carried by the car and covering the entire front end of the same, a vertical partition extending across the front end of the car and forming the back wall of the plow, a plurality of horizontal partitions secured upon and projecting forwardly from said vertical partition and having their forward edges supported by the front walls of the plow in spaced relation to the same, and means within the car for supplying heat to the plow within the compartment of the same below the lowest horizontal partition.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ELI OLAYBORNE. n 8. 

